A unique heritage property in Johannesburg combines the historic charm of the old with a smart, elegant and boldly contemporary take on family living.

WORDS Robyn Alexander PHOTOGRAPHY Elsa Young

Does each and every home have one set of owners who are perfectly and uniquely suited to it? It’s a romantic notion, perhaps, but sometimes it really does seem to be true. For example, this heritage house in one of Johannesburg’s northern suburbs and its owners – Jane Waters and Brandon de Beer – must surely have been destined for one another.

Jane explains that while the full history of their home’s origins isn’t known, it is clear from deeds records that the original building is about 170 years old, and it seems it was probably originally a hunting lodge on one of the large farms in the area. Such farms predated the existence of the city itself, of course – it’s quite difficult to imagine now, but the huge metropolis that is contemporary Johannesburg was founded a mere 135 years ago.

Having grown up in a 600-year-old cottage in the United Kingdom, Jane is “very much attracted” by all things historical, she says. She married Brandon, a South African who hails from the Lowveld, and six years ago, the couple was in search of a new house for themselves – and their three teenage daughters, Otilie, Edith and Freya – after a possible move elsewhere had not come to pass. While on a beach holiday, Jane received a call from a friend, who excitedly told her she had found Jane’s dream home. So, on her return to Johannesburg, they went to view it right away. “Before I had even opened the gate,” she says, “I knew.”

After falling instantly in love with the historic house, Jane discovered that the structure had been through a number of iterations in its long existence, and that the Waters would be the seventh family to live there. “There was a Mrs Badenhorst here at one time,” says Jane, “who grew chrysanthemums.” The extensive garden is a full acre in size, and its many mature trees, including magnolias and at least eight jacarandas, are testament to various previous occupants with a penchant for gardening.

CASUAL SOPHISTICATION This casual yet sophisticated living room is centred on a large custom-made sectional sofa that Jane says “absolutely everyone just flops down on – it’s so inviting.”

The walls in the oldest parts of the building are “made from large rocks with sand and mud-based mortar holding them together,” Jane says. More recent changes and extensions, including those added by Jane and Brandon themselves, necessarily feature walls made from modern bricks and mortar – along with plenty of resulting complications in terms of knitting all the structures together properly. Inevitably, the roof has been an ongoing challenge too, says Jane.

When the time came to rework the house and update the interiors, Jane immediately turned to Johannesburg-based interiors and product designers Mia Widlake and Debbie Votin. “I’ve known Mia for ages,” Jane says, adding that she has long admired her team’s work, “We’ve all become friends as a result of working on the project,” says Jane.

CONTEMPORARY LUXURY In the main bedroom, the contemporary four-poster bed pairs beautifully with the very chic daybed.

We wanted to “honour the past and respect it, but bring modernity with it,” explains Jane – and this is precisely what has been achieved here. For example, the team didn’t try to replace the rotting old wooden window frames with pieces made to mimic their period style, but instead chose resolutely contemporary black aluminium frames, which have blended seamlessly into the structure while also adding a sleek, modern feel to the spaces.

Praising Mia’s “amazing style and eye”, Jane says that she really valued the fact that the designer was “brave enough to go with dark colours in the interiors, which I love”. Jane relished the collaborative nature of the process too, mentioning how she would frequently send Mia photographs of potential furniture items to be used, which several times served as inspiration points for custom designs. Their ongoing dialogue has added a real richness to the spaces. As Jane further suggests, the results of their collaboration are rooms that nod towards the eclectic and moody style of British “maximalist” decorator Abigail Ahern. It’s an overall aesthetic that, as Jane puts it, “makes one feel ‘held’ by the house”.

Jane describes herself as having “a Cancerian’s love of home”, and so the fact that part of her working life has also recently had to be situated there has not been too much of a burden. Having worked completely remotely during the first months of the Covid-19 pandemic, she is now able to choose to spend about three half days per week at her office in nearby Sandton. For the rest, her newly renovated home office – repurposed and reimagined by Mia from what was effectively a “junk room” – is now a wonderful place to work. So good, in fact, that “although it officially belongs to me, the kids always want to use it too,” laughs Jane.

The home is also a compelling reflection of its current owners’ personal history. The beautiful old restored wooden cabinets and tables in the house were all inherited from Jane’s stepfather. A high school headmaster, he is also a vintage furniture buff, and when school supplies were being upgraded, he regularly bid for old school-book cupboards, work tables and the like at auction. The beautiful storage cupboard that has pride of place alongside Jane’s work table in her home office is such a piece, currently painted in a deep grey colour and combining its workday functionality with being an aesthetic pleasure.

This elegant and eloquent family home is filled with inherited treasures and adorned with a plethora of indoor plants and fresh stems. “I love plants, but it’s from Mia that I learnt the power that a simple vase of leaves has to lift a space,” smiles Jane. It really does feel as if this unique old house has finally found its ideal occupants.